Czech Republic wants greater powers for national parliaments in EU

The Czech Republic, Poland and the Netherlands want to give national parliaments a veto over proposed European Union legislation under a treaty to replace the stalled EU constitution. The German daily Handelsblatt said the three states had asked EU president Germany to strengthen a provision in the defunct charter whereby one-third of national legislatures may send bills back to the European Commission for redrafting. Handelsblatt said the trio want to turn the "yellow card" into a "red card", meaning a minority of national parliaments would be able to block any new EU law. The proposal is one of several that will be aired when senior officials of the 27-nation bloc meet in Berlin next Tuesday for the first joint session to thrash out the outlines of a new slimmed-down treaty reforming EU institutions.